


Part 1: The Wolf, The Lark, and The Verglas

by xxSwivletxx



Series: The Forgotten Heroes [1]
Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 15:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19176034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxSwivletxx/pseuds/xxSwivletxx
Summary: Wolf is no ordinary prince. With parents and a sister in the Sixth Circle, he has a lot to do to keep up his rank.He lives in the IceWing Palace alongside his "friend" Lark, and his younger cousin, Princess Verglas, the only direct heir to the throne. Together, the three friends visit Wolf's sister, Ermine, almost every day...and then they find out she's an animus.A very strict law under Queen Borealis about animus dragons and an overall fear of animus magic are both good factors of what drives young Ermine away from the Ice Kingdom...but as time goes on, it seems that it is much, much more than that. Together, the three IceWings make the decision to leave their icy kingdom to follow their friend...into the unknown world ahead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the first time I'm actually publishing something on Archive, and I'm not entirely sure on how everything on here works out! So, if anything, this is really just an experiment. So, this is Part 1/4, introducing the backgrounds the main characters. They're going to add up to the main story (Part 5) eventually, if I manage to get that far! 
> 
> Anyway, if there's someone actually reading this, then welcome! This whole story is set during several of the long years between Darkstalker's "Great Slumber" and the Jade Mountain Prophecy. Enjoy Chapter 1!

 

Wolf was just a year old when his younger sister, Ermine, hatched.

            He remembered peering excitedly behind his parents’ wings as the pale pink IceWing emerged from her egg. The sight took his breath away. He was simply fascinated at his sister- her small, icy scales were dotted with traces of faint pink and white. Even fainter whorls of blue swam around her snout. When the dragonet opened her eyes, Wolf’s mother, Bobcat, nearly dropped the dragonet.

            Wolf himself did not understand why his parents were staring at her so curiously. He stared into Ermine’s unusual red eyes, thinking of rubies and small fires. He liked Ermine’s eyes. She stared at him, smiled, but sneezed immediately, out of Bobcat’s arms.

            “Oh!” Blizzard, Wolf’s father, darted forward and caught the young dragonet, who was now shivering violently.

            “Is she cold?” Wolf asked excitedly, flapping his wings, but not flying. He was too young to fly just yet. He jumped onto Blizzard’s back, looking down at his sister.

            “It seems like it,” Blizzard replied, his voice laced with worry. “She shouldn’t be…Bobcat?” he peered over his shoulder.

            The slim white-purple IceWing came, carrying a scrap of thick caribou hide. Wolf watched as his parents wrapped the delicate dragonet in the blanket. Ermine stopped shivering so violently, and promptly fell asleep.

            “What’s wrong with her, Blizzard?” Bobcat asked softly. She leaned into her husband’s shoulder, and he extended a wing toward her.

            Wolf didn’t understand why his parents were so worried. Ermine looked all right to him. So what if she was a little cold and her eyes were a funny color? She had just hatched.

 

            That night, Wolf couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was because of the excitement of his new sister. But, most probably, it was because of the terrible cries and screams coming from the next room.

            When he couldn’t take it anymore, he pulled back the curtain that separated his parents’ room from the rest of their small hut. His mother held Ermine in her arms, trying to quiet her. His father was rummaging through scrolls with titles like, “ _Cures of the IceWings”  , “Sickness in Dragonets” , “Diseases of Pyrrhia”,_ and others.

            “What’s wrong with Ermine, Mama?” Wolf asked, peering into his sister’s screaming face. He realized that she was screaming in pain and discomfort.

            “I-I don’t know, Wolf,” Bobcat replied, her voice tight, as if she didn’t have time for her son at the moment. She continued to try to hush the dragonet, still wrapped in caribou hide, but nothing was working.

            “Do you think the healers would be open at this hour?” Blizzard asked Bobcat, still checking scrolls.

            “I hope so,” Bobcat murmured. “I can’t tell what’s wrong with her.”

            “It won’t hurt to check,” Blizzard decided. He put away his scrolls, and led the way to the door. He turned to Wolf. “Wolf—stay here, ok, my boy? You’re the dragon of the hut, now. Keep it safe for your mother and sister. We’ll be back before dawn, ok?”

            “B-but Papa, I want to come, too!” Wolf flared his wings. He couldn’t believe that they were going to leave him behind! He wanted to help. He knew he could help his sister.

            “Son, please!” Blizzard said, eyes frantic. “Your sister needs to see a healer _now_ , and your complaining won’t help! You can’t even fly, yet! There’s no choice—”

            “I want to go! Why won’t you let me go? I want to help Ermine!” Wolf pleaded, lashing his tail. His vision blurred as tears threatened to fall. _Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t CRY!_ He thought furiously at his tear ducts. Nothing stopped the treacherous tears from rolling down his snout.

            “No! You stay!” Blizzard yelled, almost as if he was going to cry himself. He slammed the door behind him as Bobcat flew out, Ermine a pile of caribou hide and polar bear fur.

            Wolf sobbed to himself, sinking right there in front of the closed door, wings huddled over his head.

            _You’re such a weakling, Wolf!_ He thought to himself. _Crying like a seal pup!_ He shook himself, still shaking with sobs, to the front door. He flung it open, and didn’t bother to close it behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filled with a feeling of uselessness, our young hero runs out into the icy wilderness. He finds himself nose-to-nose with an interesting dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had a lot of fun writing the "fight scene" in this chapter. Something about fight scenes just really exhilarates me.   
> Anyway, if you're here from the first chapter, then please continue! And I'll see you at the end of this for a little note. :)

Snow whirled all around Wolf, strong winds threatening to pull him into the icy crevasse below. He hated that the lower-ranked IceWings sometimes had no choice but to build their dens along the Dark Crevasse. It was so...menacing. 

            He ran out onto the ledge, and onto the snowy plain beyond. His tears dried up instantly, and he cannoned into a snow drift to clear his head.

            He emerged from the snow drift and shook his wings and tail. It was so dark out, but the snow seemed to have trapped some light during the day, and it made it glow in the dark of night. He ran across the white plain, the snowflakes falling delicately on the plain before him and landing softly on his snout.

            He sniffed around the plain until he found what he was looking for. He stepped onto the sea ice, sniffing around for scents of prey. He found a track easily- a young male polar bear, it seemed. He tracked the bear down to a large snow drift, digging through the snow and ice for some animal underneath.

            Wolf crouched low, and stalked his prey. It was a huge bear, almost twice his size, but he knew how to kill bears, especially ones much bigger than he was. He crept closer, and closer, until he was just one leap away from the bear. With a growl, he beat his wings once, giving him extra thrust on his pounce. He landed lightly on the bear’s back, his claws digging into its thick fur.

            The polar bear roared in surprise, and shook its pelt furiously. Wolf clung on, his ridged claws digging into the bear’s shoulders and flank, without drawing blood. When the bear stopped shaking, Wolf began beating his wings at the bear’s head, trying to confuse it.

            The polar bear roared again, and began running wildly around the plain, occasionally rearing back and trying to snap at Wolf’s wings. He deftly avoided the bear's jaws. He was about to snap his own teeth around the bear’s nape when he felt himself rolling sideways as the bear rolled over in the snow.

            Wolf managed to scramble away from the bear’s bulk just in time, before he was crushed undernetah. He jumped away. The bear turned to face him, panting heavily. It roared in his face as if to say, _“Don’t mess with me again, dragon!”_ Wolf tucked in his wings, trying to say, “ _Good fight, bear.”_  He didn’t think bears understood dragon body language, because it just huffed and walked away.

            “That was quite the show,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind him.

            Shocked, Wolf shot off in the direction that the polar bear had walked off to. He couldn’t fly yet, especially in this windy weather. He tucked his wings in tighter and stretched out his tail for balance.

            Whoever that was, Wolf didn’t want to know. There was something strange about the way that dragon spoke. It reminded him of the way his father spoke, sometimes. Wolf subconsciously wondered if this dragon undoubtedly chasing him was a royal, just like his father, before he was banished to the Seventh Circle when he fell in love with Bobcat. Wolf didn’t really know the details, just the brief story.

            Suddenly, Wolf ran into a wall. Well, really, it was the broad chest of a handsome IceWing. Pale green gemstones were embedded into the IceWing’s scales, and dotted his talons. A thin silver chain was draped around his right horn. There was a necklace that this dragon was wearing. As Wolf peered to look at it curiously, he saw one silver ring strung through a similar silver chain. _A First Circle IceWing._

            His heart thudded. He immediately tucked in his wings and tail in a low bow.

            “Oh, young dragon, no need to bow to me. I am your cousin, after all.” The IceWing intoned in a voice that sounded both amused and imposing.

            Wolf looked up. _Cousin?_ How could this amazingly stunning dragon be his-

            _Oh, wait. A royal. Related to Queen Borealis. Papa’s sister._

“What’s your name, kiddo?” the IceWing asked. He stretched out a wing toward Wolf, helping him stand up straighter. Around them, the snow whirled, watching this strange spectacle. Two IceWings, one full-grown, the other young, and cowering.

            “W-wolf, sir,” Wolf stammered, trying very hard not to disappoint this infinitely larger dragon.

            “ _Prince_ Wolf,” the other IceWing corrected. “You are a prince, after all.”

            “But I’m just a Seventh Circle dragon,” Wolf sighed. “I’m no prince.”

            “Oh, please,” the IceWing waved a claw at a passing flurry. “It’s in your blood—of course you’re a prince! Speaking of princes—I’m Prince North, second born of Queen Borealis—your aunt, and your queen.”

            Wolf made to bow again—he was speaking to Prince North! Who wouldn’t bow to him?

            But, to his surprise, North extended another wing to prevent him from moving. “Wolf, listen to me.”

            Wolf righted himself reluctantly, sitting down and tucking in his wings and tail so the wind wouldn’t pull him away in its swift currents.

            “The queen wants you back in the palace,” North explained, his voice going over the steadily growing wind.

            “Really?” Wolf cried, throwing is wings out in surprise, and immediately regretted it as the wind gripped his wings. Hard. With some struggle, he managed to tuck them closer to his body. “My whole family?”

            “No,” North replied, bending closer. “Just you. I’ve been watching you, Wolf. And I have been reporting back to the queen. She really wants to meet you, you know.”

            “The _queen_?!” Wolf exclaimed.

            “Yes!” North roared over the wind. “We should find some shelter before you blow away, little prince! Hold on!”

            Wolf had mere moments to register what his older cousin had said before the large IceWing plucked him off the icy plain, holding him gently in his talons. Prince North spread his wings and flew almost effortlessly back to Wolf’s hut. They entered through the open entrance, the door banging in the wind. Wolf pushed it closed behind with some of North’s help.

            “Why does Her Majesty want to see _me_?” Wolf asked. “I’m just a baby dragonet!”

            “I said so before, little prince,” North mused, picking up a clay pot from the ground. “She thinks you’ll be a great addition to the family. And, in inviting you to the palace, she’s giving you a chance to redeem your family name.” North put down the pot and looked down at Wolf.

            Here, indoors, Wolf could see that the prince’s scales were actually a lot darker than most IceWings. It was a darker shade of blue than Wolf had ever seen on an IceWing. 

            “What about my sister?” Wolf asked quietly, remembering the screams.

            “If…well, if she survives after tonight—then we’ll watch her, too. If she’s as any good as you are,” North tickled Wolf tentatively with a claw, and he burst into giggles. “Then we’ll invite her in.”

            “Ok,” Wolf sighed, recovering from his fit of giggles. “I’ll go with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! You're done reading Chapter 2, I hope?  
> Anyway, if you're reading this, it probably means that you hopefully, kinda, maybe, sorta liked my writing so far? Even if you're just continuing because it's cringy and this is some sort of challenge, then I thank you for reading all the same! 
> 
> That'll be all for now... see you next time! 
> 
> \- Swivvy


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five years later, Wolf has grown into a prince he knows his family would be proud of. He and his closest friends at the palace, Lark and Verglas, read some scrolls in the IceWing's small library. 
> 
> A little knowledge in the library about animus dragons shouldn't be harmful, shouldn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last update for the week! 
> 
> The following chapters happen five years after the previous two.

_Five years later…_

            Pale-colored bodies collided into one another, and claws slashed at ice-cold scales. Wings beat over heads, and spiked tails smashed into ice columns. Snow flew everywhere.

            “OW!”

            The cry stopped all the IceWings in the sparring hall from fighting. Their heads turned to Wolf and Lark. Wolf stood over his opponent, a Second Circle noble. He smirked proudly down at him.  

            “Dang it, Wolf!” Lark cried. He flicked his wing around to inspect the new sparring scratch Wolf had given him. “Did you really have to ruin my perfect scales?”

            Wolf stepped off of him, helping him up. “Oh, stop it with your looks, you narcissistic oaf,” Wolf whopped him over the head with his wing. Lark, sleek and agile, ducked under it, and jumped at Wolf, claws outstretched.

            Wolf roared in surprise, and tried to dodge his talons, but Lark cannoned into him, throwing them both to the ground. With Lark on top of him, they both erupted into laughter.

            At that moment, Aster, who was in charge of combat walked by them.

            “If you two are done playing around like a bunch of newly-hatched dragonets,” the old IceWing growled. Aster had one eye clawed shut, the scars still vaguely visible in his pale gray scales. Wolf, Lark, and Princess Verglas always joked that he looked kind of sleepy that way. But in reality, Aster was probably one of the scariest IceWings alive as of that moment. Probably third to King Frostbite and Queen Borealis themselves.  

            “Sorry, sir,” Lark jumped off of Wolf, and returned to their sparring spot.

            Wolf shook the snow off his wings and turned to face the experienced general. Aster’s eye grew dark, like an infinite pool of darkness…it reminded him of the Dark Crevasse, in his old home...his sister…his parents…the memories flashed behind his mind, almost taunting him.

            He shook his head. _I’m doing this for them. They don’t need me anyway. They’re too busy taking care of Ermine._ He had made it a point to try and visit his sister especially, as often as his schedule would allow, but these days it was getting harder and harder.

            It took Wolf several moments to realize that Aster had lumbered away, and he was just standing there like an idiot. Some of the other IceWings gave him funny looks.

            “Hey, day-dreamer,” Lark snarked, pulling on Wolf’s tail. He was yanked backwards painfully, landing with an undignified huff in front of Lark. “Sparring time, prince,” he said mockingly, assuming a fighting stance.

 

****

            After sparring, Lark and Wolf flew up to the palace. They made their way into the library, where Verglas was undoubtedly reading through scrolls.

            Indeed, there she was, reading a scroll about ancient IceWing history. Her pale blue-purple-green scales shimmered in the light of the library. Her spiked tail was curled over her nose as her eyes moved from the words. As they entered, she jumped up excitedly.

            “There you two are!” she cried. “Come, I’ve discovered something _very interesting_ about our tribe!”

            “Really, Princess? Still interested in old IceWing scrolls?” Lark mused, poking around the area where Verglas had been for hours, telling by how many scrolls were scattered around her. There were empty parchments and ink pots everywhere.

            “There’s a lot more to them than you give them credit for, Lark,” Verglas snapped. She turned to Wolf. “Do you want to know what I found?” She asked excitedly.

            The palace librarian gave an impatient “sh!” from behind a few shelves, and they all squeezed themselves into Verglas’ favorite corner in the library. Verglas was only a year younger than Wolf, but she was slightly bigger than Lark who was two years older, and almost as large as Wolf himself was. And even he was known for being a large dragonet.

            “See? Look, here- it says that we IceWings used to have _animus_ magic. Prince Arctic and Queen Diamond were the last known IceWing animuses. Isn’t that fascinating?” Verglas mused, her claws tracing over the lines.

            “We used to have animus magic?” Wolf asked curiously.

            “Yes, we did,” Lark said darkly. “And, seriously, we shouldn’t be taking about Arctic here!”

            “Why, what’s wrong with learning a little history?” Verglas asked, her deep purple eyes wide with mock innocence.

            Lark rolled his eyes and grabbed the scroll from Verglas, scanning the parchment. “Remember? He’s the father of…you know who. Arctic was the one who started it all,” he intoned ominously.

            Wolf and Verglas glanced at each other, then burst into laughter.

            “Do you really believe in all those fairy-tales, Lark?” Wolf laughed, smacking him with his tail gently. “You’re unbelievably gullible.”

            “Well, _excuse_ me, Prince, was it not you who ran around the palace two weeks ago believing everything the servant says about _scavengers_?” Lark shot back.

            Being in the middle Verglas knocked them both with her wings simultaneously. Caught off guard, both dragonets fell backwards onto the piles of soft seal fur.

            “Are you two done bickering like an old, married couple?” Verglas said unenthusiastically.

            Wolf felt the heat rush into his face, and instantly wished that his scales were a darker shade, like North’s.

            “Good. Now, look here—it says that, one day, the animus magic may return to the IceWings…and…wow. That’s…really morbid, actually.” Verglas trailed off as she stared at the page.

            Wolf adjusted his wings and tail so they weren’t sticking out in odd angles between the shelves of scrolls, and peered over Verglas’ shoulder at the scroll. “Woah, wait, _kill_ them? At hatching?!” The ink that was used to write that particular line was darker, as if someone had scrawled it in more recently as a last-minute addition.

            “Talk about a killjoy,” Lark murmured. “IceWings used to love animus dragons. I guess it was until Arctic that they decided enough was enough.”

            “Anything interesting you’re reading over here, dragonets?” a low voice crawled out at them like a spear being dragged through the snow. The three dragonets looked up, and found themselves nose-to-nose with King Frostbite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Age clarifications, if you're interested (probably not) : 
> 
> Wolf is six  
> Lark is seven  
> Verglas is five
> 
> See you next week!  
> Swivlet


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An over-protective father decides to ruin a little study time. But, hey, a good fly over the Ice Kingdom is always good, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back for another update! I was planning to post another chapter yesterday, but my wifi decided to be crap and not work :(  
> But that's all figured out, and here I am! I just wanted to say thank you for the kudos I received over the course of a week or so. It isn't a lot, but I really do appreciate every little sliver of attention I can get! Thanks so much! 
> 
> Ok! Enough talking! Enjoy this week's chapter!

Wolf felt the blood in his veins freeze up instantly, as someone had breathed freezing breath into his heart, and it was slowly freezing over. He felt his talons and wings instinctively bending into a bow as King Frostbite stared down his snout at them.

            “Just reading about old animus magic, Father,” Verglas replied to the king’s question.

            Wolf looked up and saw the king’s black eyes narrow into slits as he studied them all. He made a low, rumbling sound deep in his throat. “Don’t waste your time reading such nonsense.” The king said, his voice like snow crunching beneath heavy talons. “It’s a bunch of seal-turd, this animus magic. That’s why the queen issued a law banning all animus magic in the Ice Kingdom—from within the kingdom, and from without. You three should know that.”

            Wolf righted himself, sitting down on the piles of fur, tucking in his wings and tail in the “at-ease” position all IceWings were taught basically at hatching.

            “But—what about the dragons that turn out to be animuses within our kingdom? What happens to them?” Verglas asked curiously, eyes shining.

            “We haven’t had an animus dragon in generations,” Frostbite replied, his forked tongue flicking his mouth contemptuously. “But if one comes along…well…” the king made a deep growling noise in his throat, low and terrifying. “We wouldn’t want to scare young dragonets like that, though, now would we? Which is why…” the king reached over and plucked the collection of scrolls about animus magic that Verglas had collected around her. Frostbite tucked them all under one wing. “We should get rid of these, before they start scaring anyone.”

            Verglas watched her father take the scrolls away with a look mixed with outrageousness, fear, and guilt.

Wolf’s scales felt like they were buzzing, and his wings felt all cramped, as if they were filled with convulsive energy. It took everything he had to bite his tongue and dig his claws into the ground to prevent leaping at the king himself and wrenching those scrolls out of his talons, and giving them back to his cousin.

The three watched as the king of the IceWings tore up the scrolls with his own claws, ripping the old parchment with ease. Wolf’s eyes burned, as if someone had replaced them with two white-hot beads of metal inside his skull. His claws were digging so hard into the furs underneath him, he thought they would tear right through.  

After the king tore up the last scroll, he slithered off with a satisfied look on his face. Wolf jumped to his feet and stretched out his wings. An involuntary growl sounded deep inside his throat as he saw the ripped shreds of parchment in front of him. The pieces of paper reminded him of his remaining patience, shredded, and useless.

“I can’t believe he did that,” Verglas said quietly from behind him. Wolf turned around and saw his cousin staring blankly at her talons, as if they were useless and had failed her. “I always knew he didn’t like our history all that much…but enough to tear up entire scrolls…?” her voice trailed away as her wings sunk even lower.

“Don’t blame yourself, princess,” Lark argued, pushing away her talons so she wasn’t glaring at them. “No one would have stood up to him.”

“ _I_ would’ve,” Wolf murmured, putting a talon on Verglas’ shoulder. “I could have helped. But…”

“Now, you,” Lark told him more sternly. “Are an idiot. Of course you couldn’t have helped! No one stands up to King Frostbite. _No one_ , and you know that.” When Wolf’s wings drooped, Lark brushed his wings against his gently. “Stop it, you sensitive doofus. The princess’s scrolls just got shredded, and _she’s_ not crying like you are.”

“I’m not crying!” Wolf said defensively. “I just wish I could have done something!”

“They’re not my favorite ones, anyway,” Verglas said quietly, taking one of the shredded pieces from off the ground. “But they were still scrolls. Ancient IceWings poured their work into making these, I’m sure, and now…it’s just shreds.”

“Like my dignity,” Wolf teased, hoping to coax a smile from his cousin’s face. Nothing.

“Let’s get out of here and get some sunshine,” Lark suggested, leading Verglas away from the scrolls’ tattered pieces and out of the library. They flew out into the courtyard and made their way past the palace grounds, out onto the icy plain beyond.

It was a bright day, not a cloud in the sky. The sun cast dizzying reflections across the snowy plain. It glittered like a thousand diamonds beneath their talons as they flew across the snowy tundra. The cold wind rushed beneath Wolf’s wings, lifting him higher into the air, and propelling him forward. He did a summersault in the air. It had been a while since the Ice Kingdom had seen such bright, peaceful days.

“We should go swim in the sea one of these days,” Verglas said, pointing to the dazzling ocean far beyond them. “Iceberg says that during the springtime, the world underwater is breath-taking.”

“I hope you don’t mean that literally,” Lark said. “I’d prefer to keep my snout out of ice-cold waters, where I can breathe, thank you very much.”

“You really don’t wanna see something amazing from time-to-time?” Wolf said. “Or is it just because you’re too used to looking at breath-taking views every time you look at your own reflection?”

Lark growled playfully and crashed into Wolf. Even though Lark was smaller than him, the impact was enough to knock out all the breath in his lungs. He coughed a spurt of cold air, right into Lark’s face. The older IceWing clapped his talons over his eyes, shocked at the sudden wave of coolness. Wolf growled deep in his throat and grabbed Lark’s white horns, pushing him down to the icy tundra below. He was so distracted rough-housing with Lark, that he didn’t see Verglas’ spiked tail come ramming into his flank.

Both Wolf and Lark roared in surprise, and they let go of each other, whirling to face the heaving princess, hovering a few talon spans above them.

“Finally,” she intoned. “Aster was right—you two are always rough-housing each other.”

“What’s your point, princess?” Lark grumbled, massaging his horns where Wolf had grabbed him.

Verglas didn’t say anything. She just gestured down at the tundra below them, at a lone figure, wandering through the snow. Whatever it was had the thick fur of a polar bear. Wolf peered closer, trying to understand _why_ there were strange-looking limbs poking out from underneath the fur. He knew whatever it was, it was definitely _not_ a polar bear.

He slowly descended, trying to tell exactly what it was. His sharp vision wasn’t exactly working in the bright world filled glittering snow for miles around. He opened his mouth to call out to the creature when it looked up at the hovering dragons, red eyes shining.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interesting reunion...

“It’s Ermine!” he said excitedly, not waiting for the others as he tucked his wings in, and arrowed down toward his sister. She was wearing a cloak of thick, white, polar bear fur. He couldn’t believe she was out here, all by herself, without their parents. He realized that they were quite the ways from the Dark Crevasse. As he pummeled, he noticed the worried expression on her face.

            Right before he hit the ground like a stone, Wolf flared his wings open, and slowly drifted onto the snowy ground, like a snowflake. He shook his wings out as Ermine approached him.

            “You’re okay!” his sister cried, throwing her wings around him.

            “Of course I am,” Wolf replied, a bit confused. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

            Behind him, Verglas and Lark landed just as softly as he did on the snow. After inspecting his scales for some reason, Ermine moved off to greet the others, and closely inspected their scales, too.

            “What’s with the examination, spunky seal?” Lark asked teasingly, trying to poke the pale pink-blue dragon with his tail. Instead of grinning like she usually would, Ermine wriggled out of the way, a worried look on her face. Wolf’s stomach dropped. Was something wrong? Were their parents alright? Was there anything he could do to help?

            “I…I just had a dream. I had a dream that there were some kind of hypnotic hippos who came to the Ice Palace and hypnotized all the royals there to eat as many whales as they could, turning their scales an awful green color. I just had to make sure you were okay!” she said fervently, her red eyes filled with ferocity, as if she hadn’t just said “hypnotic hippos” out loud.

            Wolf sighed. He knew his sister was strange. The entire village along the Dark Crevasse knew that. But sometimes he wished she wasn’t _this_ strange. _Oh, Ermine,_ he thought hopelessly. _You weird, lovable dragon._

            “Oh…?” Wolf started tentatively. He knew the wrong reaction would upset his sister very much, which was why he was simultaneously trying to step on Verglas’ talons to stop her from bursting into laughter. “Is that so?”

            Ermine nodded certainly, her face a mixture of worry and determination. There was something about her face that made it easy to understand why Verglas would laugh, but there was also something that made Wolf adore his weird little sister even more. He was also tempted to drag her into a hug, pat her head, and tell her that it was just a dream, not a prophecy. But instead, he found Verglas’ back talon and fervently squashed it into the snow. She yelped in pain and jumped away.

            “Well, nothing like that around the palace,” Lark said helpfully, giving Ermine a reassuring smile. “Nothing like that for miles around, I’d bet.”

            “Oh.” The determined look on Ermine’s face fell, replaced with relief. “That’s…that’s good! Then, what are you three doing out here?”

            “We were going for a little fly around the kingdom,” Verglas answered, massaging her back talon and giving Wolf a sour look. “And then we saw you, and decided to say hello.”

            “Well, that’s very nice of you,” Ermine said simply. She dragged her polar bear fur cloak closer to her.

            “Do you still have to wear that thing every time you go out? I mean, it’s been a long time since I’ve visited you, and I don’t know if…” Wolf trailed off, pointing at the cloak that confused him earlier. He knew that his sister (among the other things that set her apart from normal IceWings), had an abnormally low tolerance for freezing temperatures. She’d shiver violently anytime she’d go out without some sort of protection.

            “I still need to wear it.” Ermine sighed. “But it’s alright—I don’t mind it as much as I mind blob fish with big wings.”

            This time, even Wolf had to catch himself before laughing. Verglas giggled, and Lark hid his smile with his wing.

            “What?” Ermine asked, offended, her red eyes going wide. “Why are you guys laughing?”

            “That’s not fair,” Verglas said in between giggles. “You can’t put the word ‘blob fish’ in a sentence and expect whoever’s listening to _not_ laugh.”

            “Blob fish?” Ermine tapped her chin, as if retracing her steps. “Oh! Blob fish!” she exclaimed, throwing her wings open. Then, she started laughing uncontrollably, her legs practically dissolving beneath her as she sunk into the snow.

            Wolf sighed, watching his sister. “We should head back, now, Ermine. Come on, you’re a long way away from the Dark Crevasse.”

            “I know, I know.” Ermine said through giggles, shaking out snow from her polar bear fur cloak. She looked down at the crisp snow beneath her talons, suddenly forgetting anything about blob fish with big wings. “How pretty is snow? It’s so pretty. I wish snow had patterns in them. That would be pretty, wouldn’t it?”

            Verglas glanced down at the pink IceWing, then up at the sky. “We need to be back at the palace before nightfall, remember? My mother would be looking for you by then,” she nodded to Wolf.

            _Oh, no! I almost forgot about the session with Queen Borealis!_ He smacked himself with his wing. How could he forget? “Ok, ok, let’s get going—Ermine, ready to go?”

            “Snow, why don’t you have patterns? Like, pretty patterns of leaves and birds and flowers?” she asked, her face bent down towards the ground, her scales almost pressed against the small white crystals. “Snow, why don’t you create pretty snowflakes around us?”

            Wolf was about to lift off into the air when he felt the snow shift beneath his talons. _Earthquake?_ His mind wandered. He looked over at Verglas and Lark, and noticed their puzzled expressions. He looked down at his talons, and realized the snow beneath them was shifting, as if it were alive. In a few moments, it was over.

            “What…what was that?” Lark asked, his voice shaky. He looked around them warily.

            Wolf looked around…it looked as though the snow had ridges and grooves in it, as if someone had patterned it.

            _Wait._ He flew up into the air hurriedly, and looked down at the snowy plain where the four of them were standing. Around each dragon, was a pattern of a snowflake on the snow.

            Just like how Ermine asked.

            _Ermine’s…Ermine is an animus._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, there!   
> I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter. Come back next week to see what happens next!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few ground rules are set once the four IceWings find out that Ermine is an animus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Sorry I haven't updated in weeks, my summer's been a bit busy! 
> 
> I may not post next week either, but I will try my best to post again this month. 
> 
> I hope this short chapter will be enough for now, at least for a few more days. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking around!

Wolf’s stomach dropped a thousand miles beneath the snow. He remembered seeing the horrific things about animus IceWings in the scroll that King Frostbite had shred up, and what the queen had to do to them. How would Ermine react when he told her what would probably happen to her?

            _What can I do to help her? Can I even manage to help her at all?_

            His mind raced too fast for him to even backtrack and think twice. Before he knew it, he was drifting slowly back to the snow, his talons making prints on the large snowflake patterns all around them.

            “H-how did you do that?” Lark asked Ermine tentatively, his talons shifting uneasily over the patterns on the snow.

            “I demanded it,” the pale pink IceWing shrugged simply. “I think I have great demanding skills.”

            “No, that’s not it,” Verglas said, her eyes wide with wonder and fear. Wolf knew exactly why. “Ermine, I think you’re an animus.”

            Wolf turned his head to see Ermine’s reaction, half-expecting her to say something silly and dodge the statement completely. Instead, he found something entirely different. His sister’s face was contorted with fear and horror. She glanced down at her talons, then at each of them.

            “No! NO!” She cried out, stumbling back. “That can’t be right!”

            “Are you absolutely certain she is one?” Verglas asked. “Maybe we should run another test, just to make sure. We don’t want to get all worked up for nothing.”

            “No!” Lark and Wolf cried out at the same time. The princess looked taken back.

            He didn’t want his sister ruining more of her soul just to test if she really was an animus. He was sure she was, and somehow, he was sure he knew the moment she peeped out of her shell, that she was animus. He knew it in his bones, in his scales, in his very heart.             Next to him, Ermine started pacing in an anxious circle, her red eyes wide with fear and confusion. She kept glancing down at her talons as if they weren’t hers.

            “Hey, hey,” Wolf hushed, jumping onto her snowflake and wrapping his wings around her, trying to calm her down. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, nothing’s going to happen to you, alright?”

            “B-but the law! The law says that animus dragons aren’t allowed! Wolf, I’m going to die!” Ermine wailed, collapsing onto the snow dramatically. Wolf’s heart wrenched. _Where did she read about that?_

            “Oh, moons, Ermine, no one’s going to die,” Lark reassured, coming over to them, too. “No one has to know about your magic, right? We’re not like the SeaWings—we don’t have some stupid ritual testing for animus magic. As long as you’re very careful, no one has to know about your powers.”

            “Lark’s right, Ermine,” Wolf said, patting his sister’s head. “You are not going to die If your life was in danger, I’d fight tooth and claw for you. I promise, you’re going to be fine. We…we just need to lay out some ground rules, alright?”

            “Yes,” Verglas jumped in, sweeping the snow around her with her tail. “Rule number one, tell _no one_. If anyone else finds out you’re an animus, they might report you to your aunt, Queen Borealis. Then we’ll have trouble.”

            “How? I cannot even Mama and Papa?” Ermine asked.

            “Not even Mama and Papa, Ermine,” Wolf told her. “Just the four of us. Me, you, Verglas, and Lark. It’ll be our little secret, ok?”

            The pink-blue IceWing nodded firmly.

            “Rule number two, tell us everything that happens. If anything strange happens to you, tell us immediately.” Wolf instructed. “We don’t want your—you getting hurt.” He thought about the terrible consequence that came with animus magic, and he winced.

            “And, third rule—only use your magic for _very_ important reasons,” Lark added. “Only if someone’s life is in danger, understand? Just three rules—don’t tell anyone about your magic, tell me, Wolf, and Verglas everything, and use your magic exclusively.”

            “Ok,” Ermine said pensively. “I think I can complete that.”

            “Good,” Verglas said. “We better hurry up and take her home. Wolf—you’ll be late if we wait any longer.”

            Wolf nodded, and lead the way to the Dark Crevasse.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wolf has his one-on-one with the queen.

Wolf ran into the icy halls of the Ice Palace, trying not to bump into passersby as he raced through the halls leading to Borealis’ throne room. It was dark out already, and none of the three moons were sitting placidly on the horizon. 

Lark and Verglas had gone ahead with the evening hunting party, which left him to attend to whatever Queen Borealis needed him to attend to. 

He burst into the queen’s throne room, dropping into a bow immediately. 

“Ah! Wolf, there you are,” the queen mused, her voice a low purr. Wolf got up and shook out his wings, settling them in behind him after he gave them a good stretch. 

“I’m sorry I’m late, Your Majesty,” Wolf apologized. “I…I didn’t realize how late it was.” He hoped he wasn’t too obvious about hiding something from the queen. If Borealis did find out about Ermine, she might sentence her to death, and give him a fierce punishment. He didn’t want that, of course. 

“I do despise tardiness, Wolf, and you know that,” the IceWing queen said, slithering down from her throne of ice and polar bear fur. The large dragoness stood before him, pale green-blue scales shimmering like the sea ice. Her dark eyes studied him closely. “However, since you are never late, my nephew, I will forgive you, just this one time.” 

“Thank you, Your Graciousness. And, it will not happen again,” Wolf promised. 

“I know it won’t,” the queen gave him a stern look, which quickly fizzed away into a much lighter expression. Queen Borealis clapped her two front talons together joyously. “Now, onto the important business! About your family.”

Wolf’s ears pricked. He’d been waiting for months to hear on his progress, to see how much more tasks he had to complete to free his family from the lower rankings of the IceWings and the menacing, gaping mouth of the Dark Crevasse. 

“How much longer?” Wolf asked excitedly, flaring his wings. 

The queen laughed, the sound loud and clear. “Oh, Wolf, you are really quite the spectacle. Such a lovable, sweet, prince,” she cuffed him under the chin. “No wonder Lark is all over you.” 

Wolf felt his scales crawl and heat rush to his face. He forced a laugh. “I see you’re trying to change the topic again, Your Majesty.” 

The queen sniffed, amused. “Hmm, smart boy. Well, the good news is, the rest of the council has agreed to let Ermine go, as long as she works as hard as you did to earn her place here at our palace. For your parents, however… well, let’s just say it will take a lot more to get those two cotton-tails to be in  _ my  _ good graces again,” the queen scowled at her talons fiercely. 

_ I should be happy,  _ he thought.  _ Soon, Ermine can help me redeem our parents, too. Well, at least Papa.   _

“What’s the next task to do? The one to free Ermine?” Wolf asked earnestly. 

“Well, the task will be very difficult…” the queen began, tapping her chin. 

“I can handle another shift as a night guard, or protecting some of the weaker villages—on my own, if that’s good enough,” Wolf offered. 

“Oh, none of that fighting stuff,” Queen Borealis waved her talons at him. “You’ve proved to be quite the prodigy when it comes to combat. No, to make sure you’re a good enough prince to inherit some of my duties and responsibilities one day, I need to give you one final test.”  

Wolf shrugged. He was pretty sure he could ace anything his aunt threw at him now. Besides, the royal family basically raised him since he was just a year old. With this in mind, he was  _ sure  _ Ermine would be joining him, Lark, and Verglas very soon. “Name your task, Your Majesty.” 

“Well, we’re waiting for the right moment,” Queen Borealis explained slowly. “We’re hearing rumors that the SkyWings are hosting an “all-tribe council meeting” or something of the sort.” 

Wolf huffed in disbelief. “Those smoke-breathing squirrels? Calling a council? Really?” 

Queen Borealis laughed. “Oh, you’re quite right, nephew. Those SkyWings are always so grumpy and full of themselves. But, you have to keep an open mind about other tribes, Wolf. For diplomatic reasons. Besides, SkyWings are very strategic planners, and everyone could learn a thing or two from them.” 

“So, you’re going to send me to this whole council meeting business, right?” Wolf guessed. 

“Well, yes, assuming that it’s happening,” Queen Borealis replied. “However, I’m not  _ just  _ sending you over there to witness another council meeting, moons, no, you’ve done much of that already. No, my dear nephew, if this council is happening, then I’m sending you there as my representative.” 

Wolf’s mouth suddenly felt dry. He blinked at his queen. Did she just ask him to represent her in an all-tribe council? 

_ No. This is what the queen is telling you to do. You do it. Do it for Her Majesty, your tribe, and Ermine. This is the best chance you could ever get!  _

__ “I- Are you sure, Your Majesty?” Wolf asked, still slightly confused. 

The queen laughed, and turned around to resettle herself on her throne. She looked down her nose at him. “What’s wrong, nephew? Is this task scaring you?” 

Wolf’s heart pounded so loudly, he was scared that Queen Borealis could hear him, sitting regally a wingspan away from him on her throne. He had to make a decision. Of course he had to do it, to save Ermine from despair. But…could he really? He was just a six-year-old dragonet, and this was a job so difficult that even some of the top councilors and ambassadors could not complete fully. He took a deep, shuddering breath, silently apologizing to his family, and his sister. 

“I’ll do it, Your Majesty.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I guess I did manage to post another chapter this week!
> 
> After this one, there will be one more, then that will be it for Part I. 
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos, it means a lot, even though it may not seem like much in entirety, it does mean a whole lot to me. Thank you so much, and see you next week for Wolf's finale!!!


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a week since the four young IceWings discovered that Ermine was an animus, and so far, nobody else knew. 

Well, they didn’t know that for sure. 

“I mean, there aren’t any IceWings coming at her with spears and orders from the queen, so I’m seeing this as a good sign,” Verglas shrugged when she, Lark, and Wolf were huddled in the library early in the morning, safe from King Frostbite’s ever-lasting short-tempered mood. 

“We should visit her more often,” Wolf said, dragging his spiked tail closer. He wasn’t going to admit aloud that he was worried about his sister now more than ever because of her secret animus powers. Who would blame him, with a strange personality like hers? 

“We can make time to visit her every week,” Lark offered. “We could go now, actually. I doubt any of us have anything important to do.” 

“I do, actually,” Verglas piped up. “But, I mean, it’s important, but it’s not like I want to do it anyway, so let’s go see Ermine!” 

The three IceWings bustled out of the brightening library, their claws barely making any sound on the icy floor as they made their way through the shelves of scrolls. 

Wolf took the lead of the trio once they reached the courtyard. He shot into the freezing air of early morning, and welcomed the frigid winds underneath his wings once he soared higher. He lashed his tail impatiently at the others, who were flapping up loudly behind him. 

“Sh!” he hissed down at them. “We don’t want anyone finding out about these secret visits, ok? Someone might get curious and follow us.” 

Lark and Verglas nodded in agreement, and together they winged quietly out of the palace grounds. None of the IceWings spoke a word until they came close to the Dark Crevasse. 

“Alright, we should be far enough away,” Lark intoned, looking over his shoulder at the shrinking shape of the Ice Palace. “I doubt anyone’s followed us.” 

“You’re right. Let’s make this trip quick, though, I don’t want Aster looking for me and Lark for sparring again today,” Wolf replied, his wings giving an involuntary shiver at the mention of the stark-faced general. 

“I’m glad you didn’t forget about that, Prince Wolf,” said a voice, cold as the sea during winter, yet sharp as glass. It was a voice that Wolf knew all too well. 

He turned around, nose-to-nose with General Aster. 

“General!” Lark greeted before Wolf could even collect his mind together. “Pleasure seeing you here.” 

Aster gave Lark a cold, one-eyed stare, his obsidian-black eyes threatening and sinister. Wolf forced himself to look straight at the general and his horrid, scarred face. 

“What are you two doing out here, may I ask?” Aster asked, his voice a low growl. “And with the princess, too, I might add?”

“W-we were going for a fly around the kingdom, is all,” Verglas answered, her voice shivering quietly. Wolf wished he could take away the nervousness from her voice. He hated seeing his cousin so anxious. It wasn’t like her. 

“Hmm,” Aster hummed. “And I suppose it was a secretive trip? Just the three of you?” 

“Yeah,” Wolf croaked, finally finding his voice at last. “You know, the princess isn’t allowed to wander around without a guard, so...I guess we were planning on making it a secret outing.” 

“Besides, we thought that Wolf and I would be enough when it comes to protecting the princess,” Lark added helpfully. “I mean, he’s probably one of the best fighters the Ice Kingdom has, so why worry?” 

“Still,” Verglas piped up, a little more confident. “I knew you’d send guards after us, and I didn’t want that… so, we did it in secret.” 

“Hmm,” the old IceWing narrowed his eye at the three of them. “Just a fly around the kingdom? You seem to be heading straight towards the Dark Crevasse.” he moved his gaze to Wolf, and Wolf was forced to stare back into that ever-ending pool of darkness. “Is this related to you, little prince?” 

Wolf’s mouth went dry. 

“I-is it really so bad to want to visit his family from time to time?” Lark asked. Wolf was surprised at how defensive he sounded. “I mean, c’mon, the kid’s been away from them for five years, can’t he visit them, just this once?” 

Aster looked grim. “If that’s the case, you could have asked for a formal visit. You know that that is well in order.” 

“And what, he’ll have to wait another five years because of how slowly you move around?” Lark shot back. “Moons, no. So, if you please, would you go back to the Ice Palace, and stop stalking us, so your prince can have the family reunion he deserves.” 

Aster was so pale in the face, Wolf would have laughed if he wasn’t so shocked at how stern Lark looked. The older IceWing lifted his chin a defiantly, his wings beating determinedly in the air. 

“Very well,” Aster said quietly. “But mark my words, next time I catch you sneaking off without permission, it will be heard immediately by Queen Borealis.” 

Lark shrugged. “Deal.” 

The three of them watched as the older IceWing winged away back to the Ice Palace, until he became no bigger than a clawmark in the bright sky. 

“Wow,” Wolf breathed. “I never thought that you, out of all dragons, would be the one to stand up  _ the _ General Aster!” He thwacked Lark with his tail playfully. 

“Hey, quit that!” Lark cried, diving out of the way. “You already bruised me twice during sparring this week, do you want  _ more? _ ” 

Wolf growled playfully at him and aimed a swipe at his horns. Lark roared and dove neatly out of the way, talon over his horn. “Hey!” 

Ahead of them, Verglas sighed good-naturedly. “Children,” she muttered under her breath as Wolf aimed another swipe at Lark’s angular snout. His claws nicked the hard scales of his upper nose, not enough to draw blood, but to leave a temporary scratch mark on Lark’s perfect scales. 

“Oi!” Lark hissed again, clapping another talon over his snout. He lashed his tail and cannoned into Wolf playfully, smacking his wings over his head. 

Wolf was so busy avoiding Lark’s tail and wings and claws, and dealing his own play damage, that he didn’t realize Verglas calling out to them a few wing beats above. When he finally did realize, she wasn’t looking down at them, but ahead in the distance. Her eyes squinted far off into the sky, as if what she was looking at was hard to make out. 

“What’s wrong, princess?” Lark asked, winging up to her and brushing himself off. 

Verglas didn’t say anything, except point a sharp claw at the sky. 

Wolf looked to where she was looking, and realized why she had to squint so hard. 

There, in the distance, were two flickers of movement. One a strange, light blue-green color, the other a pale pink-white shade, winging further and further away. Wolf didn’t need anything else to tell him that that was his sister, and some strange dragon… away from the Dark Crevasse, down south, away from the Ice Kingdom. 

His body reacted quicker than his mind did. He flapped his wings hard after his sister. Cold air flushed down into his lungs, and he realized he had roared her name several times without realizing it. Behind him, he could hear Lark and Verglas chasing after him. 

As he got closer, his thoughts finally caught up to his speeding weight.  _ Did Borealis find out? Who is that dragon? Are they taking her away from the Ice Kingdom? To be executed?  _ He didn’t know what was happening, but all he hoped was that she’d be alright. 

Finally, finally, their shapes grew closer. Closer and closer still until Wolf could make out their faces. 

It was, indeed, Ermine. Except, her coat of polar bear fur wasn’t slung around her shoulders, and her wings weren’t shivering like they usually did. Next to her was a small SeaWing, barely older than Wolf himself. Her scales were light blue-green, with hints of darker green along her underbelly and wings. She wore a leather satchel around her chest. The SeaWing’s eyes were a shade of green so dark that they looked like two holes torn through time and space itself. The look sent shivers down Wolf’s spine. That was a look worse than General Aster and King Frostbite combined. 

“Ermine,” Wolf panted, breathless from the chase. “Where...where…?” he couldn’t cough out any other words, but he hoped his sister would understand. 

“Away,” Ermine answered, her red eyes matched her tone- steady and calm. “Starfish is taking me away. Where I belong.” She motioned to the blue-green SeaWing beside her. Wolf looked at her cautiously. The sea dragon was smiling warmly at him, as if nothing was wrong with a SeaWing in IceWing territory. 

“B-but you belong here,” Wolf replied, steadily gaining his breath back. “With us.” 

Ermine simply shook her head, and a warm smile spread across her lips. “No. I’m doing what’s right! Finally, I can be like you. Always doing the right thing. Not useless.” 

Wolf was taken aback at how his sister’s remark had made perfect sense, unlike her usual speech patterns. He studied her closely, then eyed the SeaWing named Starfish, whose eyes were giving him a different message from her warm smile. 

“She’s done something to you…” Wolf murmured, his tail lashing. Without waiting for his friends behind him, he launched himself at the SeaWing, ready to breathe a blast of cold air at her face. 

But before his claws made contact, or before he could summon up the cold from within him, he felt something cold and sharp slid painfully into his underbelly, then a voice whisper into his ear, the words sliding into his brain like cold talons, or slippery fish, or a cold wisp of smoke: 

“ _ I enchant this knife to severely wound this dragon. Injure him so he won’t be able to fly for many, many days. Let him forever fear this day.”  _

The cold and sharp object slipped out of his body painfully, feeling like a barbed claw, but the pain didn’t go away, nor did it stop. It only spread viciously out of his chest, into his wings, down to his talons, and through his tail. His vision began to fail, and before he knew it, he was hurtling down towards the snow beneath him, and the strange SeaWing and his sister were winging quickly away. 

His sister, whom he loved and cared for so much, was being taken away by another animus dragon. 

And he had done nothing to save her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!   
> I haven't posted another chapter, and I really apologize for being late, but here you go! The last real chapter of Part one.   
> The next part to this is more of an epilogue to the story. 
> 
> Click next to read it!


	9. Epilogue..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A finishing chapter to Part 1

Wolf stood on the icy cliff, letting the wind course underneath his wings as he held them out to the world beyond. Lark stepped out into the sunrise next to him, stretching his wings out, too. 

“How’s your wound doing?” the older IceWing asked, bending his head down to inspect the bandaged wound wherein that strange SeaWing had stabbed him with an enchanted knife nearly a month ago. 

“Better,” Wolf replied. He didn’t like thinking about it, and what the SeaWing had enchanted it to do. He’d told the others about how she had said to enchant it to hurt him for several weeks, but not about how he would still have haunting nightmares about those dark eyes of hers. He shuddered. 

“Hey,” Lark said, noticing. “We’ll find Ermine, alright? This Council is supposedly related to her. And we’ll get her back. And we’ll figure out whatever the heck is going on with that dragon, ok?” he gave him an encouraging smile. 

“Yeah,” Wolf replied weakly. “Ok.” 

“I wish I could go with you guys,” Verglas whined behind them. “I really want to go mystery-solving with you! It sounds like so much fun.” 

Wolf walked over to her and wrapped a wing around his cousin. “You know that this Council to the Sky Kingdom is no place for a five-year-old dragonet.”

“Yeah, but you’re just a year older!” Verglas countered. 

“Yes, and you’re the heir to this kingdom,” Lark reminded her gently. He joined the two cousins further away from the cliff side. “Our dragons need you here, where you prove to be a beacon of hope for them.” 

“Moons, you sound like Mother,” Verglas said, rolling her eyes. 

They laughed. 

“Ready to venture into the unknown, little prince?” a voice said from behind them. Along with Wolf and Lark, Prince North, the queen’s second son were to be joining them on their trip to the SkyWing Council. 

Wolf nodded in response, giving his little cousin one last hug. “Don’t get into trouble without us,” he murmured into her ear before taking back his wing. Verglas cackled. 

Prince North looked over his shoulder at the six other IceWings that would be joining them on their trip to the mountains. “IceWings, let’s head out!” the prince stretched his wings and jumped into the sky. Wolf and Lark jumped into the air close behind him. He winced a bit, but found his balance. He’d been able to fly for a few days now. The sound of half a dozen dragons jumping into the air behind them sent chills along Wolf’s spine. 

He looked out to the sunrise around him. Out, into the unknown. 

He thought with a smirk,  _ Ready to face it all.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that wraps it up for this Part!!   
> I'll be taking another break for a few weeks, maybe a month at most. 
> 
> I'm currently working on the Second Part, so please look forward to it!   
> Thank you for the reads I really appreciate it!!   
> Until next time :)) 
> 
> \- Swivlet


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